Tourism Impact and Development in Costa Rica

This assignment delves into the significant role of tourism in Costa Rica's economy and society. It examines the positive and negative impacts of tourism on various aspects of the country, including the environment, local communities, and national development. Students are expected to analyze data and research findings presented in a variety of sources to understand the complex relationship between tourism and sustainable development in Costa Rica.

Running head: TOURISM AND TRAVEL
Tourism and Travel
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Tourism in Costa Rica: Overview...................................................................................................2
Visitor Market of Costa Rica.......................................................................................................4
Tourism Industry of Costa Rica: Components............................................................................5
Tourist Characteristics.................................................................................................................8
Supply and Demand in Tourism Industry..................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
Tourism, as an industry has developed immensely over the last few years, much of which
can be attributed to the way of living, improvement in the living standards, socio-economic
progress and also the convenience of traveling not only in the domestic boundaries but across
international borders. Post Globalization and liberalization of the countries, travelling globally
has become more convenient as well as more frequent, with the traveling being for both
professional as well as personal purposes (Hadad et al. 2012).
With time and huge expanse of tourism as an industry, several destinations have been
becoming increasingly popular among tourists across the world, for their unique features,
attractive destinations and spots, famous industries and cultural, religious as well as industrial
aspects. These places attract people who not only seek pleasure trips but also those who seek
business opportunities. One of the primary tourist destinations in the contemporary world, which
has been increasingly attracts tourists with time is that of Costa Rica (Krause 2012).
Situated in Central America, the country is famous for its cultural heritages as well as for
its beaches, biodiversity and spectacular natural views. The report, taking this increasing
popularity of Costa Rica as an international tourism destination, tries to provide an overview of
the country in terms of the tourism trends, demand and supply and tourist experiences over the
years.
Tourism in Costa Rica: Overview
Situated in Central America, the country is a rugged and rainforest containing area, with
immense scenic beauty including volcanoes, beaches and biodiversity. The country also is

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famous for its cultural heritage and rich history. The country also has extensive areas covered
with dense jungle and proudly boasts huge variety of unique and colorful wildlife. The country
also has beautiful coastlines on the Pacific Ocean and on the Caribbean Sea, which clubbed with
the other scenic beauties and spots of attraction, appeals hugely to international tourists across
the globe.
Figure 1: Costa Rica Map
(Source: Nationsonline.org, 2018)
The country has over the years started attracting more tourists from all parts of the globe,
much of which can be attributed to its popular natural destinations and also the protected
reserves. The natural parks cover nearly 24% of the total area of the country, making it the
largest of the percentages in the world. The popular tourist attractions of the country includes the

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capital of the country, San Jose, which has museums of tourist attraction, the beaches, rainforests
and wildlife of Manuel Antonio National Park, the cloud forests of Monteverde, the natural park
of Tamarindo and the beautiful waterfalls of La Fortuna, San Carlos (Villalobos-Céspedes,
Galdeano-Gómez and Tolón-Becerra 2012).
Visitor Market of Costa Rica
The country, though had always been a favorite destination for leisure trips for tourists
across the world, experienced even more infiltration from tourists and travelers from all parts of
the world, especially after 1987, with the winning of the Nobel Peace Prize by the then President
of the country, Dr. Oscar Arias Sanchez. The event, which brought the country and its beauty
under the global limelight, was fully utilized by the advertising aspects of the tourism industry,
who succeeded in portraying the country as a peaceful and politically stable tourism destination
(Nost 2013).
The tourism industry of the country is one of the biggest industries and is the largest
foreign exchange earner for the same, with the exchanges earned being more than what are
earned by those from bananas, coffee and pineapples. The number of visitors in the country, both
for the purpose of leisure and business has increased significantly over the years as can be seen
from the following figure:

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Figure 2: Tourist Arrivals in Costa Rica over the years (1997-2005)
(Source: Costaricantimes.com, 2018)
As is evident from the above figure, the number of tourists has been increasing
consistently in the last few years, much of which can be attributed to the beautiful scenic spots of
the country, the amenities present for the travelers. This as well as the policy framework, which
the government of the country has adopted in the recent period, to facilitate increase in the
revenue generation of the tourism industry, has succeeded in attracting more tourists over the
years (Coria and Calfucura 2012).
Tourism Industry of Costa Rica: Components
One of the primary characteristic features of the tourism industry in the country is that of
the aspect of Ecotourism. The term “Ecotourism” refers to the practice of tourism, which is
directed towards publicizing and promoting the exotic and natural environments of the countries
such that the natural reserves of the countries and the wildlife diversities are preserved and

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restored. Many of the countries, have been in the recent period, resorted to advertising this type
of tourism in order to attract more tourists with their unique features as well as for the purpose of
making the industry environment friendly as well as profitable.
Costa Rica has over the last few years, developed as one of the primary promoters of
ecotourism. The government of the country has been facilitating the tourism industry
considerably and has succeeded considerably in portraying the country as one of the most
attractive tourist destinations having:
 An exotic yet unsaturated destination
 A destination with quality tourist amenities as well as preserved natural environment
 A place offering great diversities in wildlife and flora and fauna
 A gateway to two oceans, volcanoes, many beaches, rainforests and mountains
 Low risk adventures for tourists
 Educated and tourist friendly population making the experience an enjoyable one (Hunt
et al. 2015)
This policy of promoting the country as center for ecotourism has benefited the tourism industry
considerably as can be seen from the level of revenue earned by the industry, as can be seen from
the following figure:

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Figure 3: Ecotourism and revenue earned in Costa Rica
(Source: Travelcostarica.nu, 2018)
As is clearly observed from the above figure, the revenue generation of the tourism
industry in Costa Rica in the recent period (2009), has been considerably higher than the revenue
generated by the same industry in France, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the
global framework. While the latter resorts to standard tourism practices, the former promotes
ecotourism and this has been gaining more tourist attractions over the last few decades (van
Noorloos 2013).
People come from all corners of the world for the scenic beauty of the region and for
adventures like hiking, surfing, fishing, trailing and wildlife and bird watching. Apart from the
exciting activities, tourists also come from all parts of the world for their coffee, chocolates and

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non-organic and natural souvenirs, which are also the primary tourist products in the country.
These commodities are also an important part of the tourism industry of the country.
Tourist Characteristics
The country has over the years, attracted more and more number of tourists from all parts
of the world and of all ages.
Figure 3: Activities of the tourists in Costa Rica
(Source: Incae.edu, 2018)
As can be seen from the above figure, of the tourists who come to Costa Rica, the major
share comes for the purpose of pleasure trips and vacations, followed by professional purposes.
Vacation alone consists of 61.5% of the total population, thereby indicating towards the fact that
Costa Rica is mainly popular as a destination for pleasure seeking and relaxing.

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Figure 4: Origin of tourists in the country (Number in thousands)
(Source: Incae.edu, 2018)
Though Costa Rica attracts tourists from all part of the world, the primary clientele of the
tourism industry of the country belongs to the United States of America itself, followed by the
people of Central America and Europe.
Figure 5: Most frequently visited destinations of Costa Rica
(Source: Govisitcostarica.com, 2018)

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Of the different destinations of the country, the tourists prefer to visit Valle Central
mandatorily. However, the other spectacular spots and scenic beauties also receive considerable
attention from the domestic as well as the international tourists.
Supply and Demand in Tourism Industry
The country of Costa Rica has experienced increasing inflow of tourists from all parts of
the world over the last few years, with the trends being more or less increasing for all the
countries as can be seen from the following figure:
Figure 6: Demand of international tourists in Costa Rica
(Source: Incae.edu, 2018)
Over the last few years, there has been a consistent increase in the inflow of tourists,
especially from North and Central America, Caribbean, Europe, Asia and other countries, with
the number of tourists increasing from each of the countries (Lu and Stepchenkova 2012).

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Figure 7: Types and proportions of costs of traveling to Costa Rica
(Source: Uvm.edu, 2018)
With the increase in the inflow of tourists from all parts of the world, the
accommodation, transportation, tourist guide and entertainment services of the country have
experienced a considerable increase in the aspect of the number of service providers.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be asserted that Costa Rica has over the years
developed as one of the primary international tourism destinations in the international scenario,
much of which can be attributed to the scenic beauties of the country, the ecotourism practices,
tourist friendly population and lenient and tourism industry facilitating policy framework and
infrastructure of the country. The country shows immense potential and future prospects as one

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of the primary tourism spots of global attention if these trends continue to persist in the coming
years.

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References
Coria, J. and Calfucura, E., 2012. Ecotourism and the development of indigenous communities:
The good, the bad, and the ugly. Ecological Economics, 73, pp.47-55.
Costaricantimes.com (2018). The Impact of Tourism in Costa Rica | The Costa Rican Times.
[online] Costaricantimes.com. Available at: https://www.costaricantimes.com/the-impact-of-
tourism-in-costa-rica/30363 [Accessed 5 Feb. 2018].
Govisitcostarica.com (2018). Top 10 Costa Rica Destinations. [online] Go Visit Costa Rica.
Available at: https://www.govisitcostarica.com/travelInfo/10-top-destinations.asp [Accessed 5
Feb. 2018].
Hadad, S., Hadad, Y., Malul, M. and Rosenboim, M., 2012. The economic efficiency of the
tourism industry: A global comparison. Tourism economics, 18(5), pp.931-940.
Hunt, C.A., Durham, W.H., Driscoll, L. and Honey, M., 2015. Can ecotourism deliver real
economic, social, and environmental benefits? A study of the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Journal
of Sustainable Tourism, 23(3), pp.339-357.
Incae.edu (2018). Tourism in Costa Rica. [online] Incae.edu. Available at:
https://www.incae.edu/EN/clacds/publicaciones/pdf/cen653.pdf [Accessed 5 Feb. 2018].
Krause, S.M., 2012. Pilgrimage to the playas: Surf tourism in Costa Rica. Anthropology in
Action, 19(3), p.37.
Lu, W. and Stepchenkova, S., 2012. Ecotourism experiences reported online: Classification of
satisfaction attributes. Tourism management, 33(3), pp.702-712.

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Nationsonline.org (2018). Detailed Map of Costa Rica - Nations Online Project. [online]
Nationsonline.org. Available at: http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/costa-rica-map.htm
[Accessed 5 Feb. 2018].
Nost, E., 2013. The power of place: tourism development in Costa Rica. Tourism
Geographies, 15(1), pp.88-106.
Travelcostarica.nu (2018). Tourism in Costa Rica: History, Ecology and Statistics. [online]
Travelcostarica.nu. Available at: http://www.travelcostarica.nu/tourism-in-costa-rica [Accessed 5
Feb. 2018].
Uvm.edu (2018). August 27 - Ecotourism and The C. [online] Uvm.edu. Available at:
http://www.uvm.edu/rsenr/rm230/2013_aug27_to_oct3.html [Accessed 5 Feb. 2018].
van Noorloos, F., 2013. Residential tourism and multiple mobilities: Local citizenship and
community fragmentation in Costa Rica. Sustainability, 5(2), pp.570-589.
Villalobos-Céspedes, D., Galdeano-Gómez, E. and Tolón-Becerra, A., 2012.
INTERNATIONAL DEMAND FOR NATURE-BASED TOURISM IN COSTA RICA: SOCIO-
DEMOGRAPHIC AND TRAVEL INDICATORS. Tourismos, 7(1).